As a hiring manager, it’s important you stay up to date on accounting and finance employment trends and challenges. Here are three solutions to three current recruiting and finance challenges.
Challenge #1: Talent Shortage – Organizations are looking to hire top talent in the accounting and finance sector and continue to face a shortage of qualified candidates.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the unemployment rate for accounting and finance at 2.2%. Accounting talent is increasingly hard to find and even more difficult to keep, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting that the demand for accountants will rise 10% through 2026, faster than the average growth rate for all occupations. According to a report by Rober Half, 65% of CFO’s say it’s challenging or them to find candidates.
In a tight hiring market companies should focus on differentiating themselves from competitors. It’s important to stand out and attract the attention of the candidates. When making a decision on where to apply for a job, 84% of job seekers say the reputation of a company as an employer is important. Use social media, share a glimpse of your company culture, leverage employee referrals, and always respond to positive and negative reviews to show your commitment to customer satisfaction.
50% of candidates say they wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation – even for a pay increase. Showing off your awesome company culture will increase the chances of new, quality applicants.
Challenge #2 Attracting candidates with the right skill set – Find candidates who can do more than just crunch numbers.
Because the work world is evolving more to technology, companies now require accounting and finance talent with a diverse skill set. They want someone who can adapt well to new niche technology and someone who has people skills.
Start by writing detailed and accurate job descriptions, highlighting the technical and niche skills and experience you are looking for. Indeed found that job descriptions between 700 and 2,000 characters get up to 30% more applications.
Challenge #3 Attracting millennial employees – Companies need to start understanding the mindset of the younger generation in a competitive employment market.
The accounting and finance sector has been dominated by the older generation. As a result, most employers find it difficult to attract younger talent. A recent survey by the Institute of Management Accountants found that 62% of senior finance professionals believe that recruiting millennials is the biggest challenge for their business.
47% of CFOs believe their teams are too short handed to meet future industry demands. Those demands include an estimated 773,800 new jobs added to the finance and accounting marketplace by 2026.
It’s clear many companies need to evaluate what they have to offer the growing generation. Millennials have a unique “wish list” when considering working for an organization. Here is what’s at the top of it. Companies need to create a positive workplace culture, flexibility, continuous learning, well-being programs, a reputation for ethical behavior, diversity, and inclusion.
If you want to talented accountants, auditors, and analysts you need to have a strong recruitment team that understands the hiring market trends and challenges and uses the information above to improve your overall recruiting strategy.
ASG Accounting and Finance can help you reach your accounting and finance recruiting goals, learn how here.
